Columnist Jeff German: Tide may wash away advocates of Yucca

[NVMojo]

February 19 - 20, 2005

There is no doubt in my mind now that the forces pushing the stalled Yucca Mountain project are in a panic mode.

"They're desperate to hold back the tide of public opinion that this thing is dead on arrival," says one Nevada congressional source fighting to keep the nation's high-level nuclear waste out of the state.

How desperate?

Well consider that, for the first time in the history of this 22-year battle, the pro-Yucca Mountain forces felt the need last week to travel into the heart of enemy territory in Carson City to spread their disinformation.

In the face of Yucca Mountain's growing troubles, there was former Gov. Bob List, the nuclear industry's well-paid mouthpiece in Nevada, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee, "the likelihood of this project is greater than it has ever been."

Are you kidding me?

Only two days earlier the Los Angeles Times had published an in-depth story on how Nevada's tenacity in the fight is paying dividends and raising questions about whether the multibillion-dollar project will ever go forward.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/feb/18/518317376.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Of course, the country was originally promised a nationwide search ...

... for the "best" location, to be chosen by scientific study. Then the industry boys all got together to push Congress to drop the nationwide search and stick it to Nevada. Bait and switch seems to be the name of their game.

Wonder what hat trick is coming next?

... If a repository is built by 2010 in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, its 77,000-ton capacity will be filled by existing spent fuel awaiting shipment ...
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Oct-21-Thu-2004/news/25051449.html

[NNadir]

2. What will Nevada do if West Virginia stops giving Las Vegas its

mountains, ground into tiny pebbles, set afire and lofted into our lungs?

Why is that never an issue?

Stupidity I guess.

This is not about safety; it is not about morality or or ethics or about saving lives. It's about NIMBY and rather dumb NIMBY at that.

With thousands of reactor years of experience, with international shipment of nuclear materials, please name one, just one person on the planet who had been injured by the shipment of spent fuel. Anywhere. Anytime. On the planet earth.

In fact, name just one person anywhere on the planet who has been injured by the storage of commercial nuclear spent fuel. Anywhere. Anytime. On planet earth.

We deserve what is coming. We really deserve it.

[pmbryant]

3. What does this prove?

With thousands of reactor years of experience, with international shipment of nuclear materials, please name one, just one person on the planet who had been injured by the shipment of spent fuel. Anywhere. Anytime. On the planet earth.

In fact, name just one person anywhere on the planet who has been injured by the storage of commercial nuclear spent fuel. Anywhere. Anytime. On planet earth.

If no one has ever been injured by the storage of commercial nuclear spent fuel, what is the urgency to build a central repository within the next few years?

By that argument, it would seem quite reasonable to wait a bit longer to find a site that is as safe as possible for the long term. After all, there are plenty of questions remaining about the safety of the Yucca Mountain site.

--Peter

[ramapo]

4. What about the safety at 100+ reactor sites?

How much safer are we going to get than the middle of the desert? Perhaps it's a bit close to Vegas but Las Vegas is an aberration anyway.
What intelligent people build a metropolis in a place without water and requiring gigawatts of electricity because the outside temperature is 110 degrees?

Think about all the spent fuel rods sitting in swimming pools throughout the country. Our reactor sites were never designed as waste depositories yet that is what they've become. The reactor is well protected and will survive all but a catastrophic event. The same cannot be said about the containment pools.

Sure there's a small risk in transport but that's a one time event. It is worth it to get this stuff out of the midst of some of our most densely populated areas. Nuclear waste should've been consolidated to one location a long time ago and it would've been except for politics trumping common sense. At least Yucca can be guarded and properly managed.